"I jump into a sand pit for a living"
Does Sports Ministry aid local church evangelism?
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Greg Linville, A thesis submitted to Ashland Theological Seminary for Doctor of Ministry, 2007
The purpose of the study was to identify 3 churches involved in Sports Outreach Ministry and to “conduct research on the effectiveness of their evangelism”. Churches had to meet 6 criteria:
1 Using culturally relevant sports activities for evangelism;
2 Received a budget from church;
3 Had dedicated athletic facilities;
4 Had at least one paid Sports Outreach Minister;
5 Had strong support from Senior Pastor;
6 Had met 1-5 for at least 7 years.
The approach is clearly the American Mega church as the surveyed churches had average attendance of 6,000.
There were a number of places where I disagreed with the writer: I found the theology of sport sections very week. George Williams, the founder of the YMCA is referred to “as a model for modern sports ministry” yet Williams actually had no time for sport.
Pages 62-67 give a useful summary of the historical development of church sports ministry in the USA.
Getting into the research itself. The three churches believed a sport or recreational based activity was amongst the top three church sponsored endeavours their non-churched friends and family members would be open to participate in.
Sports outreach activities were felt not only to attract the non-churched but perhaps more importantly, serve as a long term holding tank, allowing the “fish” to grow and develop until the day arrives for them to be “caught in the Master’s net” (Page 100)
Evidence is presented that sports programmes were helping churches to engage with non Christians and draw them into more overtly evangelistic activities. (Page 106)
There was one conclusion that disappointed the researcher: “The number one reason t congregants gave for choosing to participate in their church’s Sports Outreach Ministry was its commitment to Christian ethics and values. The second highest reason was for fellowship and numbers three through five were: location of the facility, quality of the facility and for physical fitness! Regrettably church attendees did not report evangelism to be a top priority as they rated it a sixth reason for their involvement in it!” (Pages 113-4)
Two more quotes: “The bottom line is, while it can be determined Sports Outreach Ministries are effective in helping churches accomplish their evangelistic and church growth goals. The final results may not suggest the high level of success hoped for”. “(Page 115).
“I was most surprised by the huge ‘disconnect’ between the average church attendee and the church outreach ministries. Even though the vast majority of church members believe sports to be the most relevant way to reach non-churched people, they are not personally involved in these types of outreaches”. (Page 127)